While still not a champion, Patrick is far from the worst driver on the IndyCar circuit. Now she is expanding her horizons to stock cars while also running a full IndyCar campaign in 2010.

Good for her. She is not going to be the worst driver in NASCAR, either.

But going from high-performance, lithe IndyCars to the much heavier, harder-to-control stocks cars is not an easy transition.

Ask two-time IndyCar champion Sam Hornish, who still finds himself at the back of Sprint Cup packs after three seasons on the NASCAR tour. And Hornish is not the only male driver who has struggled with the jump.

Comfort in stock cars is not going to happen overnight for Patrick. And getting a Sprint Cup car through 300 miles of corners takes conditioning and strength.

Can Patrick make it? Yes. Can she become a champion? No one knows.

But the public has bought into her story. The television audience for her stock car debut in the Feb. 6 ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway was 60 percent more than any previous audience for the second-echelon series.

Last week’s Nationwide Series race — in which Patrick finished 35th after getting caught in an accident not of her making — produced the most cable TV viewers ever for a race in that series.

And ticket sales for Saturday’s race at Fontana are running far ahead of last year’s pace.